It's festival season

We went to the awesome festival Mondial des cultures in Drummondville and we had such a great day with our friends! There was a really cool obstacle course in which kids (and papas!) had to climb, crawl, walk through a pool of soap bubbles (after having been sprayed with colored powder!), eat dried caterpillars (if they dared!) and more!

They said they were bored, we delivered!

 

 

There was a fascinating dance show by a troop from Mumbai, India. We even got to dance with them after the show. The kids were hypnotised! It was so awesome, because just the night before we had read the beautiful book La fille du Rajah and there was a dance about Ganesh, one of the most worshipped gods in the Hindu religion who has an elephant head.

 

 

Then, we went to see a group from Burundi perform with their traditional instruments.

 There was some free bungee trampoline jumping and the kids had a blast!

 There was a First Nations area along the river, a welcome break from the heat and the high energy of the rest of the event... We were enticed to visit by a beautiful crow.

Then, it was circus time (amazing performers from Venezuela and Chile)! We even ran into Grand-maman Claudette (JF's mom!) and Grand-papa Serge!! What a surprise encounter!

My friend Genevieve (who rented our house while we were on the road the whole year) jogged for 15 minutes to get Akim to sleep! She is such an inspiring mamma!

 After dinner, we went to see the dancers from China. They were great!

It was an awesome day and I didn't hear the word bored even once! I think it was a success!

When well-traveled kids come back home...

I got a good chuckle from Jen Miller's (The Edventure Project) post Travel is ruining my kids. It is really not far from the truth! Our girls have made similar comments as hers. Since they ate pineapples and mangoes and papayas in Costa Rica, our girls don’t even want to try them here (well, mangoes, maybe, because, you know, mangoes are just the best thing on earth and you can always try them… and make a face…). 

We sometimes wondered this year, as we visited the Carlsbald caverns, hiked The Wave in Utah and many other epic trails, did some rock climbing in some of the best spots in the US and mountain biked on slick rock in Moab and some of the best trails in Colorado, how they will ever want to join us on rock climbing and mountain biking adventures back home in Quebec… 

Turns out, we were quite right, we have the most bored little girls in town now that we are back… Nothing is good enough for them, going to the same place twice in a row is deemed the uttermost boring thing to do… Hiking in the National park in our backyard is sooo déjà vu… Biking the same trails, forget it! Oh well! We better leave again soon and never stop traveling because once you have well traveled kids, ordinary life doesn’t quite cut it!


Of course, I am half-kidding... but I have to say that one might wonder if this is a good thing or not. However, I must say that I suffer a bit from the same syndrom. I myself find going to the local beach 3 days in a row a bit boring (where the water is not as warm as Costa Rica, not as blue as the Florida keys, the sand not as white as in Tallahassee... and of course, no waves. Actually, the first time we hit the lake, after months of being by the sea, the girls exclaimed: Mama, the waves are really little today! Oh wait! That's a lake... That was funny!

We are not in exploration mode anymore, we are in filling time blocks mode... I spent my evenings searching blogs for inspiration on activities to do with them, interesting outings, etc. Aisha is the one who is having the hardest time since we have been back. Most of my ideas for things to do simply don't interest her. She wants to be on an adventure everyday. She asks for new things, new places to see... What a challenge! The other day she was bored to tears and said: I just want to be in a canyon right now!

Should we stop traveling so our girls can see what "real life" is? Because, as one might argue, "ordinary life" is not always exciting and they need to learn that... Well, really? I disagree. If we can offer our girls a fascinating life full of explorations and different activities, should we refrain from it so they don't feel bored when they come back? Who said they should settle for boring and ordinary? I didn't and I am not, that's for sure.

Working with wool in July

We have tons of bits of colored wool leftover from previous felting projects and they only seem to grow exponentially. Mathilde has rediscovered the carders and we decided to do a felted centerpiece with all those bits and pieces of wool. How I love working with wool, even during the crazy July heat wave!

"Doing school"

"Mama, I'd like to do school", Mathilde said the other day. As an unschooling mom,  I was a bit startled... School? But we live as if school does not exist! How can my child want to "do school"? I paused and wondered what she really was after. More structured days? Inspiration? Connexion?
 
After some questioning, I realized that for my girls, it meant beautiful stories illustrated with chalk drawings covered with a silk, to be revealed only after breakfast, learning a few more tunes of the recorder and doing more watercolor painting.
 
For me, unschooling is supporting our children in making their own choices. It is helping them follow their interests and passions. It is being present and listening to and even behind what they are saying. It is, I believe, the more involved type of education or parenting there is. I am involved all day, everyday with my girls. Their education and most importantly, their happiness, are at the forefront of my mind everyday. 

:: I found a great story/legend of the Platypus and we went with that. We all learned a lot on this fascinating animal! ::

The Farewells

Nobody likes to say goodbye. But it's particularly hard when you live 6000 km apart, traveled together for a while and shared unique moments. And you have no idea when you'll see each other again.

 

God we love those guys!

Right now

 Right now, I am:

 :: Thankful for grandmas who show little girls how to sew skirts all by themselves and make them feel super proud ::

 :: Very touched that Mathilde is learning to crochet with her great grandma ::

:: Still moved by the powerful words of Eckart Tolle (A New Earth), read by a friend before a meditation session together ::

:: Getting ready for Hélène and my dad's wedding in August (the girls are counting the days!) ::

 :: Delighted that my daughters could read the storybooks I created as a child and that my dad carefully collected in an old suitcase  ::

Right now, I am very appreciative of the words of love I received after my last post from people close and far. 

Right now, I am thinking of Nini and her boys that are in Costa Rica, 5 minutes from where we lived last year (a total fluke, they had no idea!). I imagine them on Playa Ventanas, at our favorite waterfall and at the Feria de Uvita. I also think about the emptiness she is feeling from the husband she is grieving and it makes my heart ache.

Right now, I am so incredibly grateful to share my life with such a wonderful and loving man.

Right now, the rain is falling on our tin roof. 

It's one o'clock, but I feel like writing.

Emptiness

I keep sitting in front of the computer to write, but the words do not flow. I feel empty of words. There is turmoil inside, tears running down while I prepare a lovely raw pear pie, when I water the plants. I just try to stay present and have compassion for myself and my family. Isn't that the best one can do? My friend Renee's post has really resonated with me and has helped me find compassion again. I love that she writes: "Perhaps I thought as a young woman that I could construct my world in such a way to eliminate the struggle." Yes. Perhaps, I thought so too. I sure wished that. Until, just like her, I realized that as long as I am human, I will struggle at times.

:: Making pretzels ::

:: We finally have room for watercolor painting ::

And yet there are so many moments of presence throughout my days, so much love. And in my practical mind, I cannot help but wonder why I still struggle so much, why my usual tools are not working, why the inner work isn't enough. Why all the muddy waters?

Probably because the river of life is not one long, clear stream... and that it is never the same water that passes through.